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That can almost always be dropped. In your example, that is being used as a conjunction, i.e. it is introducing a subordinate clause as the object of the main sentence. In most situations where this is the case, it can be dropped. I cannot think of any where it can't be dropped. When that is used as a demonstrative pronoun, e.g. "that was a nice question," ...

For relative clauses: If the missing element (which is said to be "relativized") of the relative clause is the subject, "that" is obligatory, otherwise, it is optional: Peter tasted the wine (that) his mother bought for him Peter tasted the wine that/*() had cost only 12$.

It's technically (almost) correct, but obviously a pathological case for the fun of it. Moving the prepositions into their "standard" positions and adding the appropriate pronouns gives: For what [reason] did you bring that book about 'Down Under', out of which I don't want you to read to me, up [here]? That is, from back to front: for refers to what ...

"That" is a conjunction in this type of sentence. (In "the cat that jumped over the wall", it is a relative pronoun.) It is in general OK to leave out the conjunction "that" now and then, as long as no ambiguity arises. Everybody does it all the time, even in formal style, though it happens more often in informal writing and speaking. It is possible too in ...

In the example you gave, "I was not joking" is a subordinate clause. One way to think about this is that there are two sentences He will understand X. X = I was not joking. "that" is not exactly a conjunction as Vincent said. A conjunction joins two independent clauses together, but here 2. is sort of the object of 1. Any time you want to use a clause ...

In both cases, that is the That-Complementizer, a marker for a tensed Noun Clause, or Complement. In the first case, both that's are proper, since the repetition marks the two tensed complements that are conjoined by and, thus avoiding ambiguity, which is always a problem in a clause like this. In the second case, the construction so Adj that S/such a NP ...

The object of deny is any full reality. The word change is being used as a noun, and is the object of the preposition to, which indicates whose claim is being denied. (Note that this in not an instance of the infinitive to change.) So this: Classical ontology denies any full reality to change. Basically means: Classical ontology denies that change ...

You could always break it up into separate sentences (if it's important enough to leave parentheses): It's widely known that the name "JavaScript" is trademarked by Oracle. The name was formerly a trademark of Sun (and before that a trademark of Netscape). If you don't like that, you might try putting it into a chronological list: It's widely known ...

First, it's not a hyphen; it's an em dash. We use it for: Aposiopesis: where a sentence is ended suddenly because the speaker is too emotional or can't think of the right way to express something or just— A stronger break than parentheses—inserting a clause in the middle of another though—but remaining with the same sentence. Showing a change of thought, ...

A run-on sentence is one in which two or more independent clauses are joined without correct punctuation or without the use of a conjunction. The sentence in the example is not a run-on sentence. It has only one independent clause. The milk having soured is an introductory participial phrase and is correctly followed by a comma. Here's an example of a ...

This sort of thing is surprisingly common in English. I couldn't decide if I had had a good time. This is what I've been looking for for a long time. (Your original example.) There's nothing wrong with these sentences, and they aren't grammatically incorrect. However, some people do find them infelicitous or awkward-sounding, so a simple rewording ...

As Phoog says, your terminology is a bit off, but your style looks absolutely fine to me, though it is hard to tell without proper content (or content that I can understand). While very complex sentences may be be easier to follow if the main clause comes first, your sentences are readable enough. Your clauses and phrases that precede the main clause are not ...

Second, it's not a sentence. What's the subject, what's the verb? It's a complex adjective phrase (i.e, a reduced disjoined restrictive relative clause), with a couple of descriptive similes attached, after being introduced by like, like most similes. The whole apparatus might well be what one would put after This thing here [pointing] is ...

What was formerly a trademark of Netscape? Sun? It is widely known that the name Javascript is a trademark now the property of Oracle but once owned by Sun (a trademark registered by Netscape). Oracle? It is widely known that the name Javascript is a trademark of Oracle (which is itself a trademark of Netscape, later owned by Sun). JavaScript? ...

In your examples either can be correct with some small changes ... a. The degree of dependence on nuclear energy varies from country to country. b. How dependent countries are on nuclear energy varies. a. How books are read varies from person to person. b. The way books are read varies from person to person.

I'll break it down to short sentences and rephrase: For simple examples, the overhead of concurrency is likely to be far larger than the actual computation. - Therefore, solving this example problem concurrently will have far worse performance than solving it with a single thread. - Multi-thread code is also more confusing to read than ...

As most of the other answers here point out, including that in a sentence like "He will understand that I was not joking" is optional. But I'd like to offer some examples where that, despite performing the same basic function that it does in "He will understand that I was not joking," either is crucial for sense or vastly improves the flow of the sentence. ...

This usage of "that" is correct and belongs. "That" sets off a dependent clause but could be left off without ambiguity: He said we should go fishing. This basically means the same thing and the "that" is implicit: "we should go fishing" acts as a dependent clause, telling us what was said.

There are several different kinds of that in English (besides the ordinary demonstrative this, that, these, those). All of them are used in linking clauses, but they link different kinds of clauses, and follow different syntactic rules. These that's are not, however, conjunctions; they are Complementizers. Complementizers are one of the parts of speech ...

That sentence should be punctuated as follows: Simple examples are likely to have far more overhead than the work done, making the performance of the concurrent example far worse than just writing it single threaded, and also the code more confusing. Like that it makes a lot more sense; describing the problem, an outcome, and a further outcome.

Technically, the only thing missing is a comma: I'm not inclined to be a supporter of Newt Gingrich's, having served under him for four years and experienced personally his leadership. I found it lacking often times. However, it's still a bit awkward in places: a name ending in 'ch' looks strange and unpronounceable with a possessive tacked on, that ...

I don't rate any of the phrasing too highly, as it all seems a bit clumsy. Grammatically speaking there must be a comma after Gingrich's. Unless it's OP's transcription error, oftentimes should have been one word. I personally wouldn't use the possessive for Gingrich's. In such a convoluted sentence it's just one more distraction from clear ...

That can be omitted in most cases, particularly in speech, except at the beginning of a sentence or when the that clause comes after an abstract noun. So, we can say 'The fire chief said the fire departments were on the scene at around 8 a.m.', but we have to say 'That the fire departments were on the scene at around 8 a.m. is what what the fire chief ...

Let me try: It's widely known that the name "JavaScript" is trademarked by Oracle (formerly by Sun, and prior to that by Netscape). It's widely known that the name "JavaScript" (formerly a trademark of Sun, formerly a trademark of Netscape) is trademarked by Oracle

Grammatically, I think the parenthetical clause can only refer to the antecedent "Oracle". I don't know the real-world relationships and histories, but I believe that, like Netscape, Sun and Oracle are "companies" rather than "trademarks" in OP's context. That being so, OP's sentence isn't just "ambiguous". It's either "ungrammatical" (because the ...

The phrases and clauses you're constructing are not really paraphrases of one another because a portion of meaning is lost in one and added in another. Noun Phrases and Noun Clauses, being extended Nouns, can each hold the position of Subject or Object equally. It depends on the meaning of the whole sentence that the writer wants to impart. If you're ...

I believe this is a shortening for the sake of how the sentence would otherwise hit the ear, the long form being Here, we must determine what word should indicate something that the author is praised for for not permitting. The author is praised for it for not permitting it. See also @jhocking's answer. I think it would parse better if ...

I understand your sentence as meaning that the trademark was passed from Netscape to Sun, and thence to Oracle but, as you say, your writing is ambiguous. If the history is not important, just leave it out. If the history is important, you should state it clearly rather than hiding it in parentheses and abbreviations: It’s widely known that JavaScript ...

Although "that" can be omitted after many verbs, there are other verbs where the omission is problematic. For example: He said he wasn't feeling well. I noticed the window was open. She knew there was something wrong. are fine, but: He replied he wasn't feeling well. He objected he was always the one they chose. seem unnatural to me. This is ...

As pointed out by @phoog - and you seem to be aware of this - the dependent clause (in your case these are adverbial clauses) can be at either the start or end of the sentence; it still remains a dependent clause. I would say the best place for the dependent clause is where it promotes readability and ease of comprehension of the sentence. In the examples ...